Garden fun

Our great summer garden experiment might actually pay off! We have tomatoes (albeit still green), green beans which we've been throwing into almost every dish, Swiss chard, which Simone loves to walk over to the garden and nibble on and squash/zucchini hybrid plants, which, as Danny pointed out are neither as tasty as either the solo squash OR the zucchini. Next year I think we'll just opt for the traditional varietal.

Next step, preserving! The plan is to go to some u-pick farms over the next week to start making our own pickles and jams.

Simone has just been astounding us with how much she is growing up and how much she is comprehending. She is understanding instructions, is very interested in mimicking what momma and dada are doing (no Simone! put down daddy's razor!) She likes to "help" do the dishes, she love to floss, she is really good at planting seeds in the garden, she throws things away for me, she's really good at so nicely taking all the freshly folded towels and sheets out of the linen closet or so sweetly "cleaning" everything out of mom's bookshelf. She LOVES the water and doesn't seem to be bothered by cold or hot temperatures, either way she just wants to jump right in. She's running more, falling less, climbing on everything. It's toddlerhood at it's best (and worst). Edgar just said this morning, "I think she got taller overnight!" She's a growing little bean and we're so excited to be enjoying every moment of it.

Hope you all are doing well, we sure are enjoying this late hot summer!

Beach Trip

We had our first family overnight trip out to the coast over 4th of July weekend. The weather was perfect, Edgar and I surfed, Simone got to explore tide pools, eat sandy sandwiches and be mostly nakes all weekend. Here's a few highlights:

Summer time = fun time

Is there really anything much better then sitting in a cooler full of water on a hot muggy day with one of your best buds eating tasty homemade popsicles from local berries? I think not my friend.

Bubbles!!!

Simone loves bubble machines

I Big

Simone got her first real hair cut this past weekend and suddenly she looks so much older. She did so good that I got her a strawberry smoothie and some new shoes to celebrate afterwards. (It got me a little excited about shopping trips "us girls" will be having in the future).


Simone really seems to be growing by leaps and bounds over the last few weeks. She completely understands everything we say to her (whether she listens or not is variable). She is really good at saying "Hi" and "Bye", love blowing kisses and is mimacking everything we say. She's discovered belly buttons (did you know everyone has one?!?) and adores babies. She loves to gives kisses (some venturing into the akward I-feel-like-I'm-making-out zone) and hugs. She wants to walk everywhere and strollers are almost strictly for pushing at this point. She loves her new pool in the backyard and wants to go in whether she's fully clothed or not.

Mimi and Papa have been here and it's been fun to have them have the opportunity to really bond with Simone in a new way since she's so much more fun and aware and interactive, more so I think then she's been with any of their other visits. We watched the Starlight parade this past weekend and Mimi definitely found her new parade partner, Simone lovveed it! We'll be watching the Grand Floral parade this upcoming weekend I'm sure.



Summer is off to a great start for sure!

Spring is coming

Her daddy's a DJ

Photos at the new house

Simone lately

Workin Mama

I started back to work in February (you may have noticed a dramatic decrease in blog posts ie: none.) It has been really great to be back in the "adult world" and use my brain in new challenging ways and to have 8 dedicated hours a day where I don't have someone touching me. And the money of course if very stress relieving as well. It has opened up many new doors and fun possibilities. The whole last month and a half has felt very very positive and in a flow. So many great things have been happening lately, most exciting has been our new house! We move on Monday, but I will save the details of that excitement for another day.

Being back at work has made me treasure the time I do have with S. and really try to relish every moment. She is at this perfectly endearing stage right now where she is still very much a snugly, pudgy, nursing little babe of mine, but has also started doing all of these shockingly adorable things, like saying 'hi' in this cute little voice to the check-out clerk, or putting her arm out to help me put on her jacket, or kissing Harvey on the forehead. *heart tightening* I know that all too soon I will have a little kid running around saying intelligent things and I will look around wondering what happened to my baby. Part of me wishes that I could still be around her 24/7 to see every change. But another part of me knows that this new bit of separation is good. I see her looking adoringly at Edgar and just loving on him all the time and I know that it is good for them to have their alone mama-free time. But it is hard.

Know sweet one, that even when I am not near you, I am with you in my heart and my thoughts. I dream about the sweet new cape I am making for you, and the fun time we will have at the pool this weekend, and the snuggles I will give you when I get home. I cherish you, I cherish now. I love you.

This Morning

Thought you might want to see an updated video of the rug rat. This is Simone demonstrating her broad range of emotions in just a few moments.

My girl like to dig

Sleep...what's that?

I had just gotten myself all ready for a cozy session of catching up on my blog reading (hellooo Posy Quarterman) and researching my pressing baby questions (how long is co-sleeping ok? Should I be taking more vitamins since she is still nursing? Should SHE be taking vitamins? And if she does need to take vitamins, how do you give them to her? I have serious questions about the real nutritional value of those questionable gummy vitamins, I mean, doesn't glycerin have horse hooves in it??) I was literally pouring the hot water over my new yummy holiday-treat-to-myself Sweet Raspberry tea when I hear a little hiccup-y whimper from the bedroom. Pause. Tea kettle frozen in midair. There it it again, this time more forcefully. Sigh. I walk to the bedroom thinking thoughts like, "I held you all day, entertained you, hardly had a moment to myself to even pee in peace and now you've woken again." But I lie down with her, and start to relax as she nestles in to nurse. I start to fall into the mommy trance as I stroke her hair, memorize the curve of her earlobe, cherish the little pudgy hand resting on my chest. I breathe. This is what it is all about after all.

She slips easily back to sleep, and now with my tea perfectly steeped in the time it took me to get her back to sleep, I sit here and type.

But seriously, this kid has been fighting the naps. See below video of her antics as of late during nap time. ***Video disclaimer*** Although the events in this video are 'real' in terms of Simone was supposedly taking a nap when we came in to find her head banging in her crib, clearly in this video version of events, we are egging her on a bit.

Holidays!

We had a great (but busy!) holiday season. Lots of fun and creativity. Simone loved it all even if she didn't fully grasp everything that was happening. She did however get very excited about her new skill....stair climbing! See video for live action shot including squeals of accomplishment at the top of the stairs:



She is already even faster and has mastered going down as well.